Symphony of Intimidation
by peaches2217
Summary: What do you do when you invite a lovely woman to a formal event when you've never even worn a dress in your life? You enlist the help of a renowned fashionista, of course!


Lily had been sure this was meant to be a casual meeting, a come-as-you-are kind of thing.

Yet sitting in this cozy cafe, watching as the girl in front of her alternated between looking her over and scribbling notes into her bunny-themed notepad, Lily felt like she was ordering a hit on someone.

In silent trepidation, she watched as Rion wrote. The girl was tiny, barely even half Lily's height, with bright purple hair (which she'd just dyed back from pink, which she had dyed from a similar purple). Lily had spoken to her a handful of times, had once supervised a shopping trip with her and her friend Nemu. Rion was spirited and friendly and had a passion for fashion, and Lily knew little else about her.

When she brought her most recent conflict to Iroha — an upcoming date and a lack of proper attire — Iroha had suggested Rion. Alright, Lily had thought, no harm in humoring the kid.

But there _was_ harm. There very much was harm.

Rion's face was unreadable, enough to make the toughest of poker masters sweat, but Lily could feel those eyes staring right into her with laser precision, judging every last thing about her, from her sense of style to her poor sleeping habits to that time she got blackout drunk before sunset three years ago. Wait, no, she wouldn't figure out that last one just from observation.

...Would she?

"So." For the first time in the ten minutes they'd been there, Rion set her pen down, bright eyes peering up at Lily through long lashes. "Lily. Age twenty-two, part-time motorcycle mechanic, part-time bass player-slash-vocalist in a local rock band. Fashion preferences: leather, denim, more leather, and lots and lots of exposed skin."

Not sure how else to respond, Lily nodded.

"Right." Rion scribbled something new into her notebook, adding almost mournfully, "I've got my work cut out for me."

"M-my style's not that bad!"

"Sure. But you're going on a date with the one and only _Megurine Luka._"

She had a point. Luka was confident and graceful femininity personified. Lily'd had the brilliant idea to invite her to a super fancy charity symphony (because that's the kind of thing classy, elegant music lovers are into, right?), which meant Luka would easily be the loveliest and most well-dressed in the room, which meant—

"We've gotta pull out all the stops." With a few more marks from her pencil, Rion flipped the notebook then, revealing the contents to Lily. In the center of the notebook, spread out over both pages, she'd sketched a rough outline of Lily in a slim, black dress, one with a slit starting at the upper-left thigh and a neckline that dipped almost low enough for Lily's taste. Almost.

"A simple, fitted column dress will flatter your form best," Rion explained, "while your jewelry will do the heavy lifting. The necklace—" she gestured to a smaller sketch of a layered necklace with thin chains attached to a thicker band — "that'll be gold. Then we'll get you some gold bangles to match and bring attention to your hands. Then we throw your hair into a bun and clip it back with a black pin, and there ya go."

Lily was caught too off-guard to even hear the last part. "My hands?"

Rion nodded. "Aside from a few callouses, you wouldn't know from looking that you're a mechanic. By bringing your hands to Luka's attention, you'll be telling her, 'I have a job and can offer you stability, but I can also take care of myself.' That's a real turn-on for most women."

Now _that_ was an idea Lily could get behind.

"Alright!" Snapping her notebook shut, Rion stood, offering a hand to Lily. "Let's get you dressed."

* * *

Luka took one look at her, and immediately she gave a rueful smirk.

"Rion?"

Lily could feel her heart crumpling into a sad little ball, dropping into her feet. "How did you know?"

"Miku's employed her services a time or two." Stepping toward her, Luka brushed away a strand of hair that had come loose in her rush to get to the theatre on time. Her fingers were soft. Gentle. "And, if I can be honest, there's no way you could dress yourself like this."

Lily, hot-headed, unflappable Lily, felt her face going red.

"I just…" She hung her head, sighing in shame and defeat. "I wanted to impress you."

"Consider me impressed. You look lovely." Lily's face grew hotter when Luka took her hands, skin soft and warm. "But I'm sorry if I've put that kind of pressure on you. I don't want you to feel you need to impress me. If we're going to go from here," she added, and her smile became kinder, "we need to be true to ourselves, not just to each other."

Lily wasn't used to not having control of a situation. Normally, she commanded control by sheer force. But damn it all, she was no match for a soft-spoken beauty like the woman who held her hands in the dusky light of the evening.

It felt odd. But… she kind of liked it.

"Fair enough." Giving a smile of her own, Lily straightened her spine and offered her arm to her date. "Well then, shall we?"

Luka took her arm, and, as though to remind Lily of how outmatched she was, she gave Lily's cheek a quick kiss. "Lead the way."

Lily had been on a few dates before, but never had she been so certain that one would end up killing her.

_Worth it,_ she decided, leading Luka forward on wobbly legs.


End file.
